United Arab Emirates (UAE) Participates in United Nations (UN) Meeting to Launch Humanitarian Plans Addressing the Situation in Sudan
Shahad Matar, Deputy Permanent Representative and Acting Charge d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, participated in the joint launch by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Sudan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan.
Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, noted that two years of conflict in Sudan have resulted in one of the largest and most severe displacement crises in the world. Accordingly, the United Nations has prepared its largest-ever humanitarian appeal for Sudan, with a total funding requirement of USD 6 billion. In this context, Under-Secretary-General Fletcher highlighted the initial success of the conference in Addis Ababa – which served as a crucial precursor to Geneva's meeting. He said, "This is an unprecedented crisis in terms of scale and severity and requires an exceptional response."
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, expressed his appreciation for the financial commitments made during the conference, stating, "We thank those who made pledges in Addis Ababa. What is truly important is that these pledges translate into real action."
During the joint launch of UNHCR and OCHA's humanitarian response plans for Sudan, Matar underscored that the event took place at a pivotal moment on the margins of the African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital. She noted that the UAE, alongside the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in coordination with the United Nations, organized a high-level humanitarian conference for the People of Sudan.
In this context, she emphasized that the collective message from the Addis Ababa conference was clear: launching a strong and unified call for a humanitarian truce during the holy month of Ramadan - a time for peace and, most importantly, the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to all Sudanese in need.
She added: 'The UAE announced the provision of an additional USD 200 million of aid to the brotherly Sudanese people during the High-Level Humanitarian Conference for the People of Sudan. The additional aid reflects the UAE's unwavering humanitarian values: to stand in solidarity with the Sudanese people in the face of a deteriorating humanitarian situation.'
She also underscored that the provision of additional humanitarian aid reflects the country's unwavering and continuous commitment to support the brotherly Sudanese people. Since the onset of the crisis, the UAE has provided USD 600.4 million to support a humanitarian response (USD 200 million of which was announced during the conference in Addis Ababa, while USD 400 million was provided during the past 22 months of conflict). The UAE has provided USD 3.5 billion of humanitarian aid over the past 10 years to the people of Sudan, affirming the country's unwavering commitment to support people in need during crises.
She concluded her remarks by stating: "We must seize this moment to mobilize the international community toward a unified and decisive humanitarian response, as Sudan cannot afford further delays."
The UAE reiterated its call for all parties to ensure the safe, urgent, and unhindered access of essential humanitarian aid. The UAE considers this as not merely a humanitarian request – it is an obligation under international humanitarian law. And should humanitarian assistance be hampered, there should be no hesitation in calling out those responsible.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
5 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Trump's new travel ban goes into effect against citizens of 12 nations
President Donald Trump's sweeping new travel ban came into effect early on Monday immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term. The move is expected to disrupt refugee pathways and further restrict immigration as the Trump administration expands its crackdown on illegal entries. Many of the nations covered by the restrictions have adversarial relations with the United States, such as Iran and Afghanistan, while others face severe crises, like Haiti and Libya. In announcing his restrictions last week, Trump said the new measure was spurred by a recent "terrorist attack" on Jews in Colorado. The group had been protesting in solidarity with hostages held in Gaza when they were assaulted by a man the White House said had overstayed his visa. That attack, Trump said, "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted" or who overstay their visas. The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House. Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed. New countries could be added, Trump warned, "as threats emerge around the world." Mehria, a 23-year-old woman from Afghanistan who applied for refugee status, said the new rules have trapped her and many other Afghans in uncertainty. "We gave up thousands of hopes and our entire lives... on a promise from America, but today we are suffering one hell after another," she told AFP. World Cup, Olympics, diplomats excluded The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, or in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump's order said. Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that "the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law." US Democratic lawmakers and elected officials blasted the ban as draconian and unconstitutional. "I know the pain that Trump's cruel and xenophobic travel bans inflict because my family has felt it firsthand," congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is Iranian-American, posted Sunday on X. "We will fight this ban with everything we have." Rumours of a new travel ban had circulated following the Colorado attack, with Trump's administration vowing to pursue "terrorists" living in the United States on visas. US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022. Trump's new travel ban notably does not include Egypt. His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting. Iran was included because it is a "state sponsor of terrorism," the order said. For the other countries, Trump's order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas. Agence France-Presse
Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
North African 'resilience convoy' heads to Gaza, aiming to break Israel's siege
A grassroots land convoy is travelling thousands of kilometres from the Tunisian capital to Gaza on Monday, in the hopes of breaking Israel's debilitating 18-year siege on the war-battered Palestinian enclave. Thousands of volunteers from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia left the Tunisian capital in a 100-vehicle convoy to raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and deliver life-saving aid, organisers said. The United Nations has described Gaza as the "hungriest place on Earth", with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. "The convoy will express solidarity with the Palestinian people under siege and deliver humanitarian aid to them," the coordination group said in a statement. "Participants in the convoy will head to the Ras Jedir crossing on the Tunisian-Libyan border, and travel along the Libyan coastal road to Cairo, then to the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian-Palestinian border, to deliver messages of solidarity and aid to the Palestinians in Gaza," it added. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The "Soumoud" convoy, which means resilience and steadfastness in Arabic, is reported to include trade union and political figures, as well as human rights activists, athletes, lawyers, doctors, journalists, and members of youth organisations. It remains unclear, however, whether the convoy will actually reach the besieged Gaza Strip, as Egyptian officials have yet to authorise the convoy's entry into North Sinai. "This is a message to the people of Gaza: You are not alone," Sheikh Yahya Sari, a member of the Algerian Association of Muslim Scholars, said in a Facebook post. "We share your pain, and this is a form of public pressure against the occupier in the face of international failure to stop the massacres." Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces seized control of a charity vessel aiming to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and detained its crew of 12, including activist Greta Thunberg. Gaza flotilla: The Madleen shows us the world as it could be Read More » The British-flagged yacht Madleen, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, to Gaza later on Monday. However, the boat was intercepted in the early hours of Monday, hours after Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said that Israel's military would use "any means necessary" to stop it from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza. In recent years, several ships have attempted to break Israel's land, sea and naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, but have repeatedly been pushed back by Israeli forces. In 2010, the Mavi Marmara flotilla mission was attacked by Israeli forces who boarded the ship and killed ten activists. And last month, another vessel organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience, failed to continue its journey to Gaza after being struck by two drones near Maltese waters. Since October 2023, over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian health and government officials, including more than 28,000 women and girls. The figure also includes at least 1,400 health sector professionals, 280 UN aid workers - the highest staff death toll in UN history - and nearly 190 journalists, the highest number of media workers killed in conflict since the Committee to Protect Journalists began recording data in 1992.
Al Etihad
2 days ago
- Al Etihad
World leaders head to France for UN summit on ocean threats
8 June 2025 09:54 NICE (AFP)World leaders are expected to descend on the French Riviera Sunday ahead of a high-level summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the oceans driven by overfishing, climate change and United Nations says oceans face an "emergency", and leaders gathering in Nice will be under pressure to commit much-needed money and stronger protections for the ailing seas and the people that depend on UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter, and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Javier President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sail to Nice from Monaco, where he is attending a related event aimed at raising private capital for ocean conservation. He will be joined on the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by other vessels in a colourful maritime parade, before touring an exhibition centre on land transformed into the cavernous belly of a whale. Later that evening, Macron will host leaders for a dinner of Mediterranean fish ahead of the summit's formal opening on has deployed 5,000 police to the heritage-listed city where scientists, business leaders and environmental activists are also attending in big numbers.A strong turnout is also expected from Pacific Island nations, whose delegations will demand greater financial assistance to fight the rising seas, marine trash, and plunder of fisheries that threatens their very US under President Donald Trump -- whose recent push to fast-track seabed mining in international waters sparked global outrage -- is not expected to send a have warned the summit -- which will not produce a legally binding agreement -- risks being a talk fest unless leaders come armed with concrete proposals for restoring marine among these is securing the missing finance to get anywhere near protecting 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030, a globally agreed far, only around eight percent of oceans are designated marine conservation zones and even less are considered truly says at this rate, it could take another 82 years to reach the 30 percent a boost this week, Samoa declared 30 percent of its national waters under protection with the creation of nine new marine parks. Conservationists hope others at Nice will follow has also been a concerted push for nations, including France, to ban bottom trawling -- a destructive fishing method that indiscriminately scrapes the ocean Saturday, Macron told the Ouest-France newspaper that bottom trawling would be restricted in some national marine protected closer toward the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on high seas protection, will also be a summit priority. On Sunday, an expert scientific panel will hand Macron a list of recommendations for leaders at the summit, including pausing seabed exploration when so little is known about the deep oceans.
